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Topic: Megami Tensei Topic

You know I'm really on the fence about the DS. I don't really know if I should get one or not. Are Strange Journey and Devil Survivor worth it? I know it's a goddamn Megami Tensei but still I'm unsure.

You know I'm really on the fence about the DS. I don't really know if I should get one or not. Are Strange Journey and Devil Survivor worth it? I know it's a goddamn Megami Tensei but still I'm unsure.

Depending on why you've been ignoring handhelds I'd either wait on the 3DS or jump for the DSi XL. I do think the DS in some form IS worth checking out, it has one of the strongest game libraries out there and it's one of the two good places for JRPGs this generation, the other being the PSP. Anyways, both of the MegaTens are pretty good but I made little progress in Devil Survivor and am maybe 2/3rds of the way through Strange Journey.

Well I have a PSP already. Honestly I got it strictly for Persona PSP and ended up picking up a few others. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered. I'm just unsure I might consider it though.

Actually, I'll clarify my earlier statement; if you didn't get the DS because you wanted a larger screen then get the DSi XL, if you have a GC lying around then you should probably just hunt down the GB Player to play GB on a larger screen. If you simply weren't paying attention to the DS out of a lack of interest however then you may as well wait on the 3DS.

If you simply weren't paying attention to the DS out of a lack of interest however then you may as well wait on the 3DS.

The funny thing is when I was younger I use to be a huge Pokemon fan. I only purchased a Gameboy Color to play Pokemon games and after I lost interest in it I quit paying attention to handhelds until recently when Persona PSP was released I simply had to play it. As far as the DS is concerned I'm interested in the Megami Tensei games on, and I also have a modicum of interest in The World Ends with You and 999. Plus I'm curious about the Game Boy Advance's library.

I think, crash bug aside, Devil Survivor is a better game than Strange Journey, although explaining why isn't really that easy for me.

Do I like SJ? Absolutely. I think it's one of the better RPGs on the DS. But it doesn't have the sort of extreme perfectionism that I felt Nocturne had. Anyway I guess my issues, and keep in mind I only got to the trash world which is world 4 or so but...

- The game feels really easy. I never felt at all threatened by any of the bosses I'd seen up to that point. I also recall only ever getting game over's twice.

- The dungeon designs are sort of spotty. They don't feel as completely random-ass as some dungeon crawls do (in particular, SMT1, 2, Persona 1, both Persona 2's. Yeah, look, I like these guys and all but I'm not going to argue that they had stellar dungeon designs). There are interactive bits and unique rooms and features and different areas that look like things, but never get anything as cool as some of the stuff in Nocturne or DDS1. Truthfully I guess they might be on par with DDS2's dungeons in terms of quality only I liked DDS2's dungeons more because they WERE really pretty.

- There are some issues related to the detection of map features. Namely, hidden doors. You have to actually FACE the hidden doors to find them. Why is this a problem? Well, it forces you to basically walk sideways everywhere because otherwise you WON'T find said hidden doors. This might sound minor but it's actually caused a lot of people to get stuck. Realistically the game should probably tell you you're by a hidden door if you're in a tile next to one. Forcing you to face it is sort of silly because it's just not intuitive.

Also, NPCs on the map. NPCs show up on your minimap if they've given you a quest. Otherwise they don't. This is REALLY annoying because you can't see NPCs from a distance. Old PC RPGs worked similarly and you can sort of compare Xeen and Wizardry 7 in this sense. In Xeen, NPCs aren't visible on the map but they only occur in predictable places, like at tents, or tables. You never really find them just standing around. In Wizardry 7, they're all over the place and it's stupid.

They're all over the place in SJ as well. Actually finding NPCs, and by that token a lot of the sidequests and additional content, becomes a pain because you really do need to just explore every single square of the map to find them. And this wouldn't be that bad except a lot of them end up showing up in spots where you've already been so you're less likely to just stumble onto them.

- Some of the sidequests have really bizarre hints. The Cu Chulainn one in particular comes to mind because it has you... talking to the Special Enemies that show up on the map but it's never really that obvious that this is what you should be doing because Special Enemies never work like that elsewhere, and the instructions on where to actually find these encounters is vague as hell too?

Also some of the sidequests are rather luck based but NOWHERE to the extent that they were in Persona 3.

- The press-turn esque mechanic this time around is neat since it factors in alignment but it's got a balance issue in that it only works for the player. Basically if you hit an enemy's weakness, any attacker of the same alignment as the one that hit the weakness joins in with that attacker for a combo attack that does almighty damage. It's neat, but as I said, enemy's cannot do this to you, which means covering your weaknesses isn't really as important as it was in the other megaten games.

- Buffs and debuffs seem oddly not-that-useful this time around as well.

- For some reason there's a very subtle imbalance that I can't really explain, but basically once you know an enemy's weakness the game sort of turns into a color matching scheme. "Oh, weak to fire. Spam agi!" etc. You couldn't really do this in nocturne that much and especially not in Devil Survivor because enemies tend to come in fairly balanced groups that have their bases covered, whereas SJ has this odd tendency of throwing a lot of enemies at you that are either all weak to the same thing or at least not going to reflect/null it if you hit them with something they're NOT weak to.

Also the removal of turn loss from hitting an enemy with something it's strong to means you don't have to be that careful with what you do either.

Logged

o/` I do not feel joy o/`o/` I do not dream o/`o/` I only stare at the door and smoke o/`

Or better yet, wait for the PSP2. Been hearing some strange rumors lately. A touch-panel on the back? Sounds like something only Nintendo would pull off. But that rumor about it beating the 360 in raw power is definitely bullshit.

Anyways, if there must be a new SMT title on the next gen of handhelds, then it better be on the more powerful one.

With the GBA library... well, you could probably hunt down a cheap DS lite to use until the 3DS rolls out, or even later since it'll take time to build a library and get upgrades. I'd say wait on the VC service it'll have, but that'll be a crapshot when it comes to games you want coming to it.

DevilSurvivor's crash bug is actually fairly mitigable because you can quick save as much as you like, and quick saves actually last forever. It's just that you only get one. On some occasions the crash persists across reloads, though, which is lame.

It's apparently related to status effects on enemies timing out.

It actually doesn't show up all THAT much but it's still rather off pissing.

(also the original devil children games are the best things ever ^_____________^)

Logged

o/` I do not feel joy o/`o/` I do not dream o/`o/` I only stare at the door and smoke o/`

With the GBA library... well, you could probably hunt down a cheap DS lite to use until the 3DS rolls out, or even later since it'll take time to build a library and get upgrades. I'd say wait on the VC service it'll have, but that'll be a crapshot when it comes to games you want coming to it.

I've been looking through the GameBoy Advance library and the only thing I can say I really want is Breath of Fire and maybe Tales of Phantasia but I heard it was weaker than the PSP version. I'm surprised it hasn't shown up on the virtual console yet. :( I have another question, will you be able to transfer save data from your Nintendo DS to the Nintendo 3DS? I don't want to get say Devil Survivor which I'm really tempted to get, and have to start all over again when I get the 3DS. :(

I have another question, will you be able to transfer save data from your Nintendo DS to the Nintendo 3DS? I don't want to get say Devil Survivor which I'm really tempted to get, and have to start all over again when I get the 3DS. :(

DS games save on the cart not the system, so you don't have to worry about losing any save data.

I have another question, will you be able to transfer save data from your Nintendo DS to the Nintendo 3DS? I don't want to get say Devil Survivor which I'm really tempted to get, and have to start all over again when I get the 3DS. :(

DS games save on the cart not the system, so you don't have to worry about losing any save data.

That's great news thanks for telling me. :D Are Gameboy Advance games the same way?

I have another question, will you be able to transfer save data from your Nintendo DS to the Nintendo 3DS? I don't want to get say Devil Survivor which I'm really tempted to get, and have to start all over again when I get the 3DS. :(

DS games save on the cart not the system, so you don't have to worry about losing any save data.

That's great news thanks for telling me. :D Are Gameboy Advance games the same way?

Given the sophistication the DS has over the GBA? Definitely yes, the system doesn't even store the time when other systems like the Neo Geo Pocket were doing so.

I have another question, will you be able to transfer save data from your Nintendo DS to the Nintendo 3DS? I don't want to get say Devil Survivor which I'm really tempted to get, and have to start all over again when I get the 3DS. :(

DS games save on the cart not the system, so you don't have to worry about losing any save data.

That's great news thanks for telling me. :D Are Gameboy Advance games the same way?

Given the sophistication the DS has over the GBA? Definitely yes, the system doesn't even store the time when other systems like the Neo Geo Pocket were doing so.